Gurugram: As the first of the earthmovers and bulldozers of the Faridabad administration start razing uninhabited structures in the Khori village on directions of the Supreme Court, somewhat of a mass exodus has started with hundreds of locals leaving their homes every day — forced to find shelter elsewhere.
On Thursday, the administration in Faridabad started the demolition activity by razing around 90 structures - all uninhabited. Amid this, the Faridabad Deputy Commissioner Yashpal Yadav has now said that the administration is giving ample time to the residents to relocate safely.
DC Faridabad pointed to the exodus of residents and claimed that the policy of patience and consultations was playing a positive role as hundreds of residents have left Khori on their own. However, tens of thousands remain in the village, protesting almost every day to stop the demolition activity.
Most of the residents who have left Khori so far have either gone back to their villages in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar or Uttarakhand. There are also a large number of people who have moved into the slum areas of Faridabad and Gurugram as their livelihoods depend on working in the national capital region.
But the Faridabad administration's urge to highlight its dialogue and patience is severely underscored by the events leading up to the first demolition activity. For more than a month now, the authorities have cut off electricity and water supply in the village. Moreover, it has also enforced Section-144 for more than a month that has led to a large number of protests demanding rehabilitation of Khori residents being detained.
A large number of earthmovers and law enforcement officials have been deployed around Khori to make sure that there are no law-and-order challenges.
Despite the preparations of the Faridabad administration, there are also huge challenges facing officials and workers to undertake the massive demolitions. Thousands of residents at Khori are still adamant they will not leave Khori and will fight till the very end to save their homes in which they have been staying for decades now.
Despite odds stacked against them, these residents have continued to be steadfast in their demands and have vowed to not leave Khori. Taking a firm stand, the Supreme Court in its June 7 order had stated that Khori was set up illegally in the forest area of Aravallis. The Apex Court gave Faridabad public agencies a time frame of six weeks to raze the illegal structures.
To just get a sense of how onerous the task of demolition can turn out to be Faridabad administration can be gauged from the fact that more than 6000 structures that need to be demolished. These demolitions are expected to make more than 30,000 people who were residing in this village homeless.